Road trip 09

Ok well after Iron Austria it was time for some serious Rest and recovery.
Which for me usually means 'party time', as i have a habit of not being able to sit still and just relax and enjoy my free time.
So i decided to go visit my old home town of Roth, which also had the big Ironman triathlon on too that weekend, so it was great timing to pack up my things to start the begining on which became a 3 week road trip.
Down in Roth during the week, i bunked up with the crew from majic foods, which i shared a carivan with them for the 4 days during the festival.
To say the least their was not much time for RnR as i got court up with the awsome vibe of the Quelle triathlon vestival, (which meant way too many late night with no sleep). It was refreshing to be on the opposite side of the race course.
I had alot of fun catching up with the guys and girls racing the Ironman and hanging out with the staff behind the scenes of the race.
It was quite an inspirational day for myself, which i have sometime doubts of why i am in this sport, to watch these guys/girls have an epic day of racing.

more to come
Paul

Ironman Austria

Ok my training for Ironman Austria was going ok, but just 'ok' not great or bad i was happy that i was fit and had a good pre season base under my belt.
After Challenge Kraichgau, i teamed up with Chris McComarck and we did some last minute 'cram' training weeks together as we were both worried that we had not trained enough miles as we had such a full race schedule.
This may have not been the best idea, as in one of the 'cram' training runs i pulled up with a swallon shin.
This problem did affect my training abit as i has to do a forced earlier taper for my running.
Klagenfurt- i decided to drive from my homestay in Limburg to Ironman Austria, which was a pretty drive, but a long boring drive when you do this solo.
Come race day i was really excited to race, as the stories of Klagenfurt being one of the most beautiful Ironman in the world held up to my expectations.
(I thought if i am going to suffer in a race that goes for over 8hrs, i want to at least enjoy the scenery.)
I was lucky enough to come first out of the water during the race.... as the bike leg went on, i was too scared to take any chances on the bike, as i am new to this type of racing so i sat with the first group all of the bike leg, doing turns but did not want to ride solo as i wasn't sure how to pace myself.
Though i now regret not 'having a go' on the bike as i still fell apart on the marathon at around 15km. I was able to run the whole way which i was happy with, but i think my lack of long runs in training realy showed during the marathon.
This is all a learning curve for myself, as i can take alot of knowledge from this.
I was still happy i could place a strong time and place, with my total lack of experience over this distance.
Slowing putting the pieces togther for the enduring event which is an Ironman.

Sore any ready for some RnR
Paul